JPH11151210A - Patient side terminal equipment and treatment side terminal equipment for remote patient monitoring system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To transmit living body information while being hardly affected by a communication error first, to eliminate the need of a pair of the interface units of a matched communication standard secondly and to monitor the action of a patient and the indication degree of a medical equipment not provided with an output terminal. SOLUTION: In this patient side terminal. equipment 3, since the measured values of vital sensors 31 and 32 are converted into measured value images in a signal conversion part 34 and sent to the treatment side terminal equipment 6 by video signals, they are hardly affected by the communication error. Also, since an ISDN communication channel is connected by video telephones 51 and 52, the need of a special communication interface unit is eliminated. Further, since the video images of a CCD camera 37 are synthesized with the measured value images in the signal conversion part 34 and sent to the treatment side terminal equipment 6, the action of the patient and the indication degree of the medical equipment not provided with the output terminal are monitored by the CCD camera 37.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention belongs to the technical field of telemedicine equipment.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As shown in FIG. 5, a remote patient monitoring system according to the prior art comprises a patient terminal 1 and a medical treatment terminal 2, and modems 14 and 21 connecting both 1 and 2 by a telephone line such as ISDN. It is composed of In the patient terminal 1, digital signals or analog signals from the plurality of vital sensors 11 and 12 are transmitted to the interface unit 1.
The data is converted into a series of numerical data by the computer 3 and transmitted to the medical treatment terminal 2 via the telephone line via the modem 14.

On the other hand, in the medical terminal 2, a signal transmitted from the patient terminal 1 through a telephone line is returned to a series of numerical data by the modem 21. Thereafter, the series of numerical data is returned to the digital signal for each of the vital sensors 11 and 12 by the interface unit 22 and displayed on the monitor display 23 as numerical data or a graph over time. By monitoring the monitor display 23, a doctor, a nurse, or the like can monitor the patient's biological information.

[0004] As disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 9-47436, depending on the model, when the patient's biological information goes out of a predetermined range, a buzzer or the like attached to the monitor display 23 of the medical treatment side terminal 2 may be used. Some alarms are triggered automatically.

[0005]

However, in the above-mentioned remote patient monitoring system according to the prior art, since numerical data is transmitted as a digital signal, if a communication error occurs, the numerical value error is extremely small. It was big. If the communication standards of the interface units 13 and 22 do not match each other, biological information cannot be transmitted, and a remote patient monitoring system cannot be configured between different interface units.

Furthermore, when it is desired to monitor not only a biological signal indicating a patient's condition but also a video signal indicating a patient's behavior on the medical treatment side, or to monitor an instrument of a medical device having no terminal for outputting to the interface unit 13. In some cases, a separate videophone communication line was required. Therefore, the present invention is capable of transmitting biological information that is hardly affected by a communication error, secondly, does not require a pair of interface units conforming to a communication standard, and thirdly reduces the behavior and output terminals of a patient. An object of the present invention is to provide a patient terminal and a medical treatment terminal of a remote patient monitoring system capable of monitoring an indication of a medical device not having the terminal.

[0007]

Means for Solving the Problems and Their Functions / Effects To solve the above problems, the inventor has invented the following means. (First Means) A first means of the present invention is a patient terminal of the remote patient monitoring system according to the first aspect.

This means includes a vital sensor, a video camera, an image synthesizing means and a transmitting means. In this means, while at least one vital sensor measures biological information (vital sign) of a patient, a video camera captures an image of a patient or an imaging target such as an instrument of a medical device having no output terminal. An image signal is generated. Then, the image synthesizing unit generates one of the numerical value image indicating the measurement value of the vital sensor and the measurement image of the meter image. further,
The image synthesizing means fits the measured value image into a part of the image indicated by the image signal of the video camera and synthesizes the image to generate a synthesized image signal. After that, the synthesized image signal is converted to I
It is transmitted through a communication line such as SDN and transmitted to the patient terminal.

In the patient terminal, a composite image signal in which the measured value image of the vital sensor is fitted into a part of the image captured by the video camera is displayed on a monitor display such as a videophone. Therefore, according to this means, the following three effects are produced. First, since the measured value of each vital sensor is transmitted as a part of a composite image signal, the transmitted biological information data has a very high degree of redundancy, is less susceptible to bit inversion and the like, and is not affected by communication errors. Transmission of difficult biological information becomes possible. Second, the communication standard conforms to the videophone standard.
Since the composite image signal is transmitted through a communication line such as N, an interface unit conforming to a special communication standard is not required for the receiving medical terminal, thereby reducing costs. Third, since the image of the video camera is transmitted as a part of the composite image signal, it is possible to monitor the behavior of the patient and the indication of the medical device having no output terminal through the video camera.

(Second Means) A second means of the present invention is a patient terminal of the remote patient monitoring system according to the second aspect.
This means includes an image recording device and a selection means. The image recording apparatus has a function of recording a composite image signal and reproducing the recorded composite image signal at high speed. On the other hand, the selecting means has a function of selecting one of a real-time synthesized image signal obtained from the video camera and a synthesized image signal reproduced at high speed by the image recording device and supplying the selected image signal to the transmitting means.

In other words, according to the present means, not only a real-time synthesized image can be monitored online from the medical terminal, but also a synthesized image reproduced at a high speed retroactively in a predetermined range can be selected and monitored. For a patient whose condition is stable and does not need to be constantly monitored, it is not necessary to keep the patient side terminal and the medical treatment side terminal always online. Therefore, for example, the patient side terminal and the medical treatment side terminal should be connected at a fixed time every day, and the behavior of the patient and the biological information of the patient can be traced back in a short time with a synthesized image reproduced at high speed. It becomes possible to monitor. As a result, the time for connecting the communication lines can be shortened, so that the communication cost can be reduced. However, it is desirable that the patient terminal has a function of automatically calling the medical terminal from the patient terminal at any time in an emergency and a function of notifying a doctor pager or the like in addition to the function of automatically calling the medical terminal from the patient terminal.

Therefore, according to this means, in addition to the effect of the above-mentioned first means, it is not necessary that the patient side terminal and the medical treatment side terminal are always connected by the communication line, so that the communication cost is reduced. This has the effect. As another means,
Although a configuration in which an image recording device capable of high-speed reproduction is provided in the medical treatment terminal is possible, such a configuration does not provide the effect of reducing communication costs.

(Third Means) A third means of the present invention is a medical treatment side terminal of the remote patient monitoring system according to the third aspect.
This means includes a numerical value separating means and a numerical value recording device in addition to the receiving means and the monitor display. The receiving means has a function of receiving a communication including a composite image signal transmitted via a communication line from the patient terminal of the remote patient monitoring system, and the monitor display is configured to receive the composite image signal. Has the function of displaying On the other hand, the numerical value separating means has a function of extracting a measured value image from the received composite image signal, reading the measured value as a numerical value, and generating numerical data, and the numerical value recording device has a function of recording the numerical value data. Having.

Therefore, according to the present invention, not only can the synthesized image signal be monitored on the monitor display from the received synthesized image signal, but also the measured values are extracted from the measured value image portion in the synthesized image signal and recorded. Can be kept. That is, not only can the measured value of the vital sensor be visually checked on the monitor display, but also the measured value can be separated as numerical data by the numerical separating means, and the numerical data can be stored in the numerical recording device.

Therefore, according to the present invention, it is possible to not only visually check the measured value of the vital sensor on the monitor display, but also save it as numerical data in the numerical value recording device and reproduce it as required. There is. (Fourth Means) A fourth means of the present invention is a medical treatment side terminal of the remote patient monitoring system according to the fourth aspect.

In the present means, the numerical value separating means has a function of extracting an image of an instrument included in the video signal of the video camera in the composite image signal, reading a reading of the instrument and / or a displayed numerical value, and generating numerical data. Also has. That is, the numerical value separating means not only extracts the measurement value from the measurement value image portion in the received composite image signal, but also indicates the reading of the instrument included in the video imaged by the video camera in the composite image signal or It has a function of extracting a display numerical value as numerical data.

Therefore, according to this means, in addition to the effect of the above-mentioned third means, the instrument reading or even the displayed numerical value of the medical device having no output terminal can be obtained through the video camera of the patient terminal. The numerical value recording device of the present invention has an effect that it can be reproduced as needed.

[0018]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiments of the patient terminal and the medical treatment terminal of the remote patient monitoring system according to the present invention will be described in the following examples so that those skilled in the art can understand the present invention. Explain clearly and fully. Embodiment 1 (Configuration of Embodiment 1) As shown in FIG. 1, a patient terminal and a medical treatment terminal of a remote patient monitoring system as an embodiment 1 of the present invention, The side terminal 6 functions by being connected by videophones 51 and 52 via an ISDN communication line. The videophone 51 has an input / output terminal for a voice signal and an image signal, and functions as a transmission unit of the patient terminal 3. Similarly, the videophone 52
It has audio signal and image signal input / output terminals, and functions as a receiving means of the medical treatment side terminal 6.

The patient terminal 3 comprises two types of vital sensors 31, 32, a sensor input unit 33, a CCD camera 37,
A signal conversion unit 34, a monitor display 35, and an image recording device 36 are provided. In addition, beside the patient terminal 3, a home medical device 4 including a vital sensor 41 worn on a patient and an instrument display panel 42 is installed. However, since the home medical device 4 does not have an output terminal, it cannot be connected to the patient-side terminal 3 to send a signal.

The vital sensors 31, 32 are a sphygmomanometer and a thermometer, and the outputs of both vital sensors 31, 32 are:
The data is converted into a series of numerical data by the sensor input unit 33 and input to the signal conversion unit 34. On the other hand, the CCD camera 37 as a video camera is installed at an appropriate distance beside the patient, captures the behavior of the patient on the left half of the screen, and outputs an image signal (video signal) to the signal conversion unit 34. input.

The signal conversion unit 34 functions as an image synthesizing unit and a selecting unit, and the video telephone 51 and the image recording device 3
6 and the monitor display 35. The signal conversion unit 34 generates a composite image signal of a video image of the CCD camera 37 and an image obtained by converting the measured values of the vital sensors 31 and 32 into a numerical image.
1, can be input to the image recording device 36 and the monitor display 35, respectively. Therefore, the operator of the patient side terminal 3 checks the composite image signal in real time while watching the monitor
7 can be adjusted and operated. In this embodiment, as the image recording device 36, a recording cycle (sampling cycle) can be set long, and a DVD video deck having a function of recording for a long time is adopted to enable random access. I have.

On the other hand, the medical terminal 6 is an image recording device 6
1, a monitor display 62, a signal separation unit 63, and a numerical value recording device 64. The image recording device 61 is a DVD video deck similar to the image recording device 36 of the patient terminal 3, and is connected to a videophone 52 as a receiving unit, a monitor display 62 and a signal separating unit 63. The signal separating unit 63 includes the numerical value recording device 6
4 and functions as numerical value separating means.

Note that, even when the image recording device 61 is not operating, the composite image signal input from the videophone 52 is input to the monitor display 62 and the signal separation unit 63 through the image recording device 61. The signal circuit is configured as described above. Further, as the numerical value recording device 64, a normal data recorder may be used, but in the present embodiment, a hard disk is adopted to enable random access.

(Operation of First Embodiment) The patient terminal 3 and the medical treatment terminal 6 of the remote patient monitoring system of the present embodiment
With the above configuration, the following operation and effect can be obtained. In the patient-side terminal 3 of this embodiment, the vital information (vital sign) of the patient is measured by the two vital sensors 31 and 32, and the A / D is input by the sensor input unit 33.
The converted data is input from the sensor input unit 33 to the signal conversion unit 34 as numerical data. Then, due to the action of the signal converting section 34 as an image synthesizing means, as shown in FIG. 2A, a measurement value image which is a digital numeral image displaying the measurement values of the vital sensors 31 and 32 is included in the right half surface. An image signal is generated.

On the other hand, the CCD camera 37 as a video camera captures a whole body image of the patient on the left half of the screen, generates an image signal thereof, and inputs the image signal to the signal conversion unit 34. Then
The signal conversion section 34 fits the above-mentioned measured value image into a part of the right half surface of the image indicated by the image signal of the CCD camera 37 and synthesizes it by the action of the image synthesizing means, as shown in FIG. Is generated.

As shown in FIG. 1 again, the composite image signal output from the signal converter 34 is displayed on a monitor display 35. At the same time, the videophone 51
When the terminal is connected to the medical treatment terminal 6 via the SDN communication line, the composite image signal is transmitted to the medical treatment terminal 6 via the video telephone 51 in accordance with a normal video telephone communication standard. In this case, the image recording device 36 does not necessarily need to be operating. Conversely, when the ISDN communication line is not connected to the medical treatment terminal 6, the image recording device 61 records the composite image signal at a relatively long sampling cycle.

The signal conversion section 34 also has a function as a selection means, and converts one of a real-time synthesized image signal and a synthesized image signal reproduced at high speed by the image recording device 36 as transmission means. It is supplied to the videophone 51. The operation of switching which of the composite image signals is selected and the operation of the image recording device 36 are performed by the medical terminal 6.
The signal conversion unit 34 is activated by a predetermined signal such as a dial tone signal transmitted from the medical device, and is remotely operated from the medical treatment side terminal 6.

On the other hand, the medical treatment side terminal 6 of this embodiment is provided with an image recording device 61, a monitor display 62, a signal separating section 63 as a numerical value separating means, and a numerical value recording device. The medical treatment terminal 6 is connected to the above-mentioned patient terminal 3 via an ISDN communication line via a videophone 52 as a receiving means having an input / output terminal. Therefore, the composite image signal transmitted from the patient terminal 3 is received by the medical terminal 6 via the videophone 52.

Here, an image signal and an audio signal are transmitted from the video telephone 52 as the receiving means of the medical terminal 6 to the video telephone 51 as the transmitting means of the patient terminal 3 by using a normal video telephone function. It is possible to send. The image signal and the audio signal transmitted from the videophone 52 via the ISDN communication line can be viewed on the screen of the videophone 51 or heard with a speaker.

At the medical terminal 6, the image recording device 6
1 can record the received composite image signal as needed. Also, on the monitor display 62,
Since the composite image signal shown in FIG. 2C can be monitored again, the medical worker operating the medical treatment side terminal 6 displays the measured values of the vital sensors 31 and 32 and the behavior of the patient on the same screen. Can be monitored simultaneously.

The signal separating section 63 serves as a numerical separating means.
It has a function of extracting a measurement value image from the received composite image signal, reading the measurement value as a numerical value, and generating numerical data, and the numerical value recording device 64 has a function of recording the numerical value data. Therefore, in the medical treatment side terminal 6 of the present embodiment, not only can the synthesized image signal be monitored from the received synthesized image signal on the monitor display 62, but also the measured value can be calculated from the measured value image portion in the synthesized image signal. It can be extracted and recorded. That is, not only can the measured values of the vital sensors 31 and 32 be visually checked on the monitor display 62, but also the measured values are separated as numerical data by the signal separating unit 63 as numerical separating means, and the numerical data is stored in the numerical recording device 64. It becomes possible to save.

As another method of using the medical terminal 6 of this embodiment, the instrument display panel 42 of the home medical device 4 is imaged by the CCD camera 37 instead of the patient, and the signal conversion unit 34 is used.
To synthesize the synthesized image signal shown in FIG.
Can be transmitted. On the other hand, in the medical treatment side terminal 6,
The signal separating unit 63 functions as a numerical value separating unit, and also has a function of extracting the image of the instrument display panel 42 in the composite image signal, reading the reading of the instrument and the displayed numerical value, and generating numerical data.

That is, the signal separating section 63 not only extracts the measurement value from the measurement value image portion in the received composite image signal, but also includes the measurement value in the video imaged by the CCD camera 37 in the composite image signal. It has a function of extracting the reading of an analog instrument and the numerical value displayed on a digital instrument as numerical data. Therefore, in the medical treatment terminal 6,
Not only can the instrument display panel 42 of the home medical device 4 be monitored by the monitor display 62, but also the instrument readings and the displayed numerical values of the instrument display panel 42 can be recorded in the numerical value recording device 64 as numerical data.

(Effects of the First Embodiment) Therefore, according to the patient terminal 3 and the medical treatment terminal 6 of the remote patient monitoring system of the present embodiment, the following effects are obtained. First, since the measured values of the vital sensors 31 and 32 are transmitted as a part of the synthesized image signal, the transmitted biological information data has a very high degree of redundancy and is not easily affected by bit inversion or the like. Therefore, the medical treatment side terminal 6 has an effect that it is possible to monitor the biological information which is hardly affected by the communication error. In addition, when the noise on the communication line is large, it is easy to recognize that the S / N ratio is low as a disturbance of the image, so that even if a communication error occurs, an erroneous measured value is not recorded.

Second, according to a communication standard (for example, NTSC, PAL, SECAM, etc.) based on the videophone standard, a composite image signal is transmitted from the patient terminal 3 to the medical treatment terminal 6 through a communication line such as ISDN. Transmitted. therefore,
Neither the transmitting patient terminal 3 nor the receiving medical terminal 6 need an interface unit conforming to a special communication standard. As a result, the ordinary video telephone having an input / output terminal is transmitted to the transmitting means 51 and the receiving means 52.
Since it can be used as a device, there is an effect that the cost is reduced.

Third, since the image of the CCD camera 37 is transmitted as a part of the composite image signal, it is possible to monitor the behavior of the patient and the indication of the medical device having no output terminal through the CCD camera 37. This has the effect. 4th
In addition, not only can the real-time synthesized image be monitored online at the medical treatment side terminal 6, but also the high-speed reproduction of the recording of the image recording device 36 can be used to select and monitor the synthesized image reproduced at high speed in the past. be able to. For a patient whose condition is stable and does not need to be constantly monitored, it is not necessary to keep the patient side terminal 3 and the medical treatment side terminal 6 online at all times. Therefore, for example, the patient-side terminal 3 and the medical-care-side terminal 6 are connected to the ISDN communication line at a regular time every day. Monitoring can be performed retroactively. As a result, the time for connecting the communication lines can be shortened, so that the communication cost can be reduced.
However, it is preferable that the patient terminal 3 has a function of automatically calling the medical treatment terminal 6 at any time in an emergency and a function of notifying a doctor pager or the like.

(Modification 1 of Embodiment 1) As Modification 1 of the present embodiment, when the measured values of the vital sensors 31 and 32 exceed a predetermined range and are judged to be abnormal, the above-mentioned notification is made. In addition to the function, the configuration of the patient terminal 3 having a function of automatically reducing the sampling period of the image recording device 36 is possible.

According to the patient terminal 3 of this modified embodiment, the behavior of the patient in an emergency and the behavior of the measured values of the vital sensors 31 and 32 can be reproduced in detail, so that diagnosis and analysis can be performed more accurately. There is an effect that it becomes possible to perform. (Modification 2 of Embodiment 1) As a modification 2 of the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 4, a patient terminal 3 is the same as that of Embodiment 1, and a videophone 52 is used instead of the medical terminal 6. It is also possible to implement an operation mode using only.

In the present modification, the medical staff can monitor by the videophone 52. The monitoring target is Example 1
Similarly, the image of the CCD camera 37 and the vital sensor 3
One of a real-time composite image signal with the 1,32 measurement value images and a high-speed reproduction image of the image recording device 36. Which image is to be observed by the videophone 52 is determined by a dial tone voice signal generated by operating a dial key of the videophone 52, by the signal conversion unit 34.
Will automatically select and provide the image.

According to this modification, the videophone 5 can be used even when the doctor is away from the medical facility where the patient terminal 3 is located.
As long as there are two, for example, a patient and his / her biological information can be monitored from home. Therefore, there is an effect that even in an emergency such as being called by a pager, quicker response is possible. In the case of configuring the patient-side terminal 3 capable of such an operation mode, the function is performed only when a password is input to the signal conversion unit 34 for the purpose of ensuring the privacy and safety of the patient. It is desirable that the patient-side terminal device 3 is configured to perform the operation.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a remote patient monitoring system according to a first embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a set diagram showing an example of a composite image transmitted in the first embodiment. (A) Measurement value image of a vital sensor (b) Video camera image (c) Composite image

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating another example of a composite image transmitted in the first embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a remote patient monitoring system according to a second modification;

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a remote patient monitoring system according to the related art.

[Explanation of symbols]

3: Patient side terminal 31, 32: Vital sensor 33: Sensor input unit 34: Signal conversion unit (as image synthesizing means and selecting means) 35: Monitor display 36: Image recording device 37: CCD camera (as video camera) 4 ： Home medical equipment 41 ： Vital sensor 42 ：
Instrument display panel 51: Videophone (as transmitting means) 52: Videophone (as receiving means) 6: Medical terminal 61: Image recording device 62: Monitor display 63: Signal separating section (as numerical separating means) 64: Numerical value Recording device

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A vital sensor for measuring biological information of a patient, a video camera for generating an image signal of a subject to be photographed, and a measured value image of one of a numerical image and a meter image for displaying a measured value of the vital sensor. Generate
Image synthesizing means for generating a synthetic image signal in which the measured value image is embedded and synthesized into a part of an image indicated by the image signal of the video camera; transmitting means for transmitting the synthetic image signal through a communication line; A patient terminal of a remote patient monitoring system, comprising: 2. An image recording apparatus for recording the composite image signal and reproducing the recorded composite image signal at a high speed, a real-time composite image signal obtained from the video camera, and the image recording apparatus. 2. The patient side terminal of the remote patient monitoring system according to claim 1, further comprising: selecting means for selecting one of the synthesized image signals reproduced at high speed and supplying the selected image signal to the transmitting means. 3. A receiving means for receiving a communication including the composite image signal transmitted from the patient terminal of the remote patient monitoring system according to claim 1 via the communication line. A monitor display for displaying the synthesized image signal; a numerical value separating unit for extracting the measured value image from the synthesized image signal, reading the measured value and converting the read value into numerical data, and a numerical recording device for recording the numerical data And a medical terminal of the remote patient monitoring system. 4. The numerical value separating means extracts an image of an instrument included in the image signal of the video camera from the composite image signal, and reads a reading and / or a display value of the instrument to generate numerical data. The medical treatment side terminal of the remote patient monitoring system according to claim 4.